To Kate
by DreaminDaze
Summary: It's taken three years, a harrowing case, and one particular detective for Rick to realize all that's changed, what means the most to him, and how far he will go to protect the ones he loves. Oneshot.


_Hmm, not sure how this came about, but it's been floating in my computer for a while and I thought it was time to clean it up. I hope you like it though, and I'd love any feedback_

_Disclaimer: nope, not mine._

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><p><strong>To Kate<strong>

"… so you should probably just head home now Castle," Kate finished with a weary sigh. It had been a long, gruesome day. The murder of two teenage foster children, with virtually no forensic evidence and no solid leads had had them scrambling since the early morning.

"Aren't you gonna go get some rest too?" His eyes implored her.

She shook her head absentmindedly, continuing to peruse the crime scene photos spread out on her desk. They were horrific. Rick studied her, watching her fight to hold herself together. He sat glued to her side, no longer bothering to leave any space between their thighs. "C'mon, put those away. Let go, Kate." Gently, he pried the pictures from her hands, careful not to wrinkle them. "Go home, Kate."

She looked around the still crowded precinct. Kevin was gently banging his head against the murder board; Javier had a stack of papers the width of a phone book on his desk, the phone hanging limply from his hand; and Captain Montgomery was firmly planted at his desk in his office. "No." she replied.

"Okay, then I'm not leaving either." Without removing himself from her side, he swung his coat to the back of his chair.

She exhaled sharply, "Castle, you don't have to."

But he decided already. He's dedicated to this team. "I want to."

* * *

><p>"Castle! Leave!" She screamed at him. Three hours later, they were standing face to face, chest to chest, both too stressed to care about appearances. Her hair had long since fallen out of its neat ponytail, and his eyes were ringed with dark. But everyone's were.<p>

"No, Kate!" He yelled back, "If you're here, and the boys are here, and the perp is_ out there_, I'm not leaving."

"It's not the same." She hissed, dangerously quiet now. "You have a daughter, who you haven't seen in over 24 hours. You're not a cop. This. Is. _Not._ Your. Job."

They continued arguing, her standing on tiptoes to meet his eyes. She won't ever tell him, but she'd much rather be fighting him then fighting the losing the battle with this case. And for this reason, Kate narrowed her eyes and told him he was just a consultant, and he was no longer needed.

And Rick. Well, he couldn't pretend that standing this close to Kate didn't give him any sort of exhilaration. Her flushed cheeks and warm breath were a mere inches from his face. While usually fighting with Kate scared him, this time he knew it was a different kind of fighting. He hadn't made a mistake. He hadn't crossed a line. This was their usual bickering about her sleeping more, eating more, taking better care of herself, to a higher level. He shot back a retort about how she was the only one who insisted on throwing him out.

In between the yelling match with Kate, Rick glanced around the room. Esposito was talking intently into the phone while his partner stood a few feet away, writing away on the murder board. They looked more motivated than they had three hours ago, when the night was younger. Allowing the smallest smile to slip over his features, Rick knew his and Kate's loud bickering had restored in them both a sense of normalcy.

He would do anything, even fight Kate, because he's dedicated to this family dynamic.

* * *

><p>"Okay, that's it. Everybody leaves." Even the captain's voice wavered when he finally stepped out of his office a half hour after Kate and Rick's shout down.<p>

"But sir—"

"Captain, I'm still on hold with—"

"I just need a second to—"

Their protests fall on deaf ears, and exhausted, worn out and hollow, the three detectives finally file out of the precinct.

Kate felt Castle follow her into the elevator. They were the last two left.

"You don't have to babysit me, Castle."

The writer winced at the detective's harsh tone, but chose to ignore it. Castle might have left Beckett alone at her harsh words. But not Rick. Rick wouldn't leave Kate. Instead, he leaned in close and massaged her shoulders for a few seconds as the elevator made its way down to the lobby. He thought – no he was sure – he could feel her leaning into him just a bit. So then, nearing dawn, during a stolen moment in an elevator, Rick poured everything he felt for her into his two hands, hoping they'd channel into her through her tense shoulders.

He was pretty sure she hadn't felt the words he couldn't bring himself to say when the elevator dinged open and she stepped out. The slight stumble in her steps in her haste to get away told Rick that she could sense something palpable between them, as he could. And it scared her. But when she turned around before pushing open the door to the parking lot, unable to stop herself from stealing a glance at him, just to check if he was as thrown off by the – something – coursing through her veins as she was, he thought maybe he was one step closer.

"Get some sleep Castle," Kate pleaded somewhat desperately, "okay?" It's just sleep deprivation, she told herself. It's the sleep deprivation and the pure fatigue they have in common that's making him look at her so intensely, and making her read much more into it than necessary. In a few days, everything would go back to normal.

"Pinky swear," he replied, holding up his little finger and giving her what he hoped to be the most reassuring of smiles.

He watched her leave, peeking through the window in the door to see her motorcycle zooming into the nearing dawn, before leaving through the front door and hailing a cab.

The fatigue really sunk into his bones as he slumped in the backseat of a typical New York taxi, not bothering to think of what it meant for his reputation if anyone happened to snap a picture of him. He was just like that, dedicated to his second job.

* * *

><p>The call came at just past 7am, a mere two hours since he finally collapsed into bed. Rick groped blindly on his night table, trying to locate his phone without opening his eyes against the harsh light from the lamp he'd just flicked on. Cursing as he knocked over a glass of water that Alexis must have a left, he found the phone.<p>

A sigh of exhaustion escaped his parched lips, and suddenly, he wished he'd taken a sip of that water. "Rick Castle." His scratchy, hoarse voice sounded as bad as he felt.

"Castle? Sorry, I know you're sleeping." Her voice is always so much smaller over the phone, he mused. Softer, and more Kate-like, a depart from the hardened Detective Beckett he usually heard in the precinct.

"A mysterious call from the hottest female homicide detective in New York, in the middle of the night?" He teased, knowing it would alleviate her guilt and put her at ease, "Well, I'm certainly not complaining."

To his credit, she chuckled softly. "Nice try, but I'm the _only_ female homicide detective in New York, and it's morning."

"Ew, logic." Rick complained. At her silence, he continued, "how may I be of assistance on this lovely - " he paused to think " – Saturday, morning."

"Well, it's nothing really." Kate faltered. Had she made a mistake, calling him? "I've been going over the files on Anna and Danny from DHS since I got home… and well, I think I've got something…"

He only heard one thing she said. "_Since you got home?_" He repeated, incredulous. "Don't tell me you didn't sleep, Kate…"

She hesitated on the line, and he gripped the phone more tightly in his hand, knowing the answer, hovering between anger and exasperation and admiration.

"Fine, I won't tell you," she finally decided. Jeez, when had a call about a case turned personal? Oh who was she kidding? It was always personal when Castle figured into it. No. Not going there. "In their third foster home, the kids were living with two younger kids, also in the system. I checked the family's financials and they had nowhere near enough savings to get approval for four children living in their home. It says here the only property they own is a two bedroom flat, I don't even know where they would've slept and well…" she sighed, "it's weird, right?"

Rick rubbed a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut. How long had she poured over every document possible to find this little tidbit of information, and link it to another tidbit? "Yeah, it's weird," he agreed, "when was the last time you ate something Kate?"

"Uh," he heard her shuffling papers he knew were spread out all over the floor, "yesterday?"

"You don't remember?"

"Yesterday." She repeated, losing the upward inflection that cast uncertainty into her voice.

"Okay," he said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. Through the phone, Kate heard a ruffle of bed sheets that sounded like Rick was pulling himself out of bed with difficulty. "I'll be there in half an hour."

She hmm'ed, not a sound of disagreement, but not making it sound like that's what she wanted all along.

"You're going to need someone to feed you, solve the case with you, and then tuck you into bed, because I'm starting to believe that you don't know how to do 2 out of 3 of those things. I just need to get a pair of socks…"

"I do know how…" she protested, but not too strongly because she didn't want to change his mind. "And there's no way you're tucking me in."

"Yeah right, and we'll just see." he muttered under his breath, also secretly thrilled to go and spend time with her, under the pretense of making sure she fulfilled basic survival needs. "See you soon." He snapped the phone shut and shoved it in the pockets of the pants he was busy pulling on. Rick couldn't remember the last time he hung up on Kate, but he had a feeling it was on another day like this one.

Making fast work of brushing his teeth and getting dressed, Rick stepped out of his bedroom a mere five minutes later. He stopped only to kiss a still sleeping Alexis goodbye and leave her a note telling her he'd gone to Kate's to work on a case. Rick caught sight of his reflection on the full length mirror Martha had insisted on buying as he stood with hand on the doorknob. His hair was sticking up at odd angles, despite how little he'd actually slept and he'd missed a button when doing up his shirt. He was, to put it lightly, a mess.

Rick smiled at his reflection, understanding. He'd grown past the flavors of the week and the constant partying. The note to Alexis, that was a finishing touch he might have forgotten a few years earlier. Now, his daughter would wake up and not worry for a second about him. He was a consultant, almost-cop, sort of partner, a bit more than friends, go to guy for a magnificent woman.

Almost as though wanting to justify jumping out of bed on two hours of sleep after one of the most hectic days of his life, full of ups and down. Rick thought to himself that he was merely dedicated…

To keeping evil off the streets of New York

To being the best almost-cop he could be.

To Kate.


End file.
